Why Echo
Most school leaders find out a teacher is struggling when the resignation letter lands.
Echo exists so they find out while there is still time to do something about it. We built it for three reasons.
The short version
Three reasons Echo exists, in a minute.
The same argument this page makes, in the order it happens: staff leave, staff do not feel heard, and the survey loop never closes.
Runs one minute two seconds. Sound on or off, it works either way.
01 · The problem
Staff are leaving
Every wave of the Department for Education's Working Lives survey says the same thing: workload, stress and not feeling valued are pushing people out of the profession. By the time a leader hears about it, the decision has usually been made.
What Echo does about it
A short, anonymous check-in every month or half term, across the six areas the research says predict whether staff stay. The pattern shows up in weeks, while there is still time to act.
29%
of teachers are considering leaving the sector within a year
86%
experience stress at work
64%
say the job does not leave enough time for personal life
43%
say their workload is unacceptable and outside their control
Source: Department for Education (2026), Working lives of teachers and leaders.
02 · The problem
Staff don't feel heard
Feeling heard is not a soft extra. It sits in the top three reasons teachers leave, alongside workload and stress. Staff will only say what they really think when they trust the process is anonymous, and they will only keep saying it if something happens as a result.
What Echo does about it
Anonymous by design, with no link between a person and their answers. Every check-in includes an open comment and a shout-out for a colleague, and every cycle ends with a "You said, we did" update so staff see where their words went.
Top reasons teachers give for leaving
- 1Workload
- 2Stress and wellbeing
- 3Views not being valued
Source: Department for Education, Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders.
50%
of education staff say their school's culture harms their mental health
27%
say it helps
Source: Education Support (2024), Teacher Wellbeing Index.
03 · The problem
The survey loop is broken
Most schools already ask staff how they are. The problem is what happens next. Results land in a spreadsheet, get discussed once, and the next survey arrives before anything visible has changed. Each time round, fewer people bother to answer.
What Echo does about it
The action plan is the first thing a leader sees when a check-in closes, with an owner and a date on every action. Staff get an update before the next check-in runs, and the next check-in shows what has moved. It is a loop measured in weeks, not a form filled in once a year.
The usual staff survey
Once a year
Twelve months later, the next survey. Fewer people answer.
With Echo
Every month or half term
Then the next check-in shows what has moved.
Why it matters now
Ofsted and the Wellbeing Charter
Listening to staff is no longer optional. Inspectors and the DfE both now expect schools to measure staff wellbeing and show what they did with the results.
Ofsted, from November 2025
Staff wellbeing is an explicit part of what inspectors evaluate under Leadership and Governance.
The framework names regular staff surveys as evidence inspectors will consider. Echo's reports are built to be handed straight to an inspection team.
Education Staff Wellbeing Charter
Commitment 11 asks schools to hold themselves accountable, including by measuring staff wellbeing.
Echo gives you defensible measurement against that commitment, rather than an annual suggestion box.
Built on the research
None of the six things we measure is our opinion.
They are the six things the evidence keeps pointing to across every serious study of UK teacher retention in the last decade. Every figure, instrument and licence is written up for governors, trustees and anyone who wants to check.
- Department for Education
- Education Support
- NFER
- Ofsted
- EEF
Who built it
Built by someone who studied why teachers leave.
Echo was founded by Jessie Parkinson, whose background is in Psychology and Organisational Psychology, with research focused on teacher retention. The product started as a question from a trust leader: why do we only find out when it is too late?
Jessie Parkinson
Founder, Echo
Find out while there is still time to do something about it.
A short call with Jessie, a look at a real action plan, and a straight answer on whether Echo fits your school or trust.